Dear John: Something has to be done about Con Ed, which has gone wild in New York City.

I live in an old apartment building in Staten Island. Con Ed stopped sending meter readers regularly in the last year to save money. The meters are in our apartments. Anyway, they just switched out our meters so they can remotely see our readings.

They sent me a bill for $1,018! I’ve been paying their flat billing plan of $107 (which I thought was high) for a year or more. So I called and they said, this is what you owe, and further, our bill will be $178 a month from now on!

After talking to many people, I realize what they’ve done is to take me from 11 cents per kilowatt to 17 cents retroactively for the year — without ever letting me, the consumer, know.

Many people have been scammed by them, as I found out online.

I contacted my local senator’s office. Don’t have much faith in that. What can you tell me? P.V.

Dear P.V. I can’t do much. But I did ask.

I don’t know much about the smart meters. Con Ed apparently hasn’t been able to get into your apartment to read the meter. Maybe the reader is lying. I’ve had that happen to me with the electric company in Jersey.

Anyway, apparently the budget plan you are on was too low. So you owe money.

Con Ed did tell me it would work out a payment plan for you. And just remember, it’s very hard for the utility to turn off your power. Newspapers love stories of people freezing to death and power companies do care a little about their image.

You should be hearing from Con Ed soon. Good luck.

Dear John: In June, my son received a letter of denial from the Admissions Committee of Stony Brook University’s graduate math program.

In early July, Prof. David Ebin (of Stony Brook) told me that in spite of my son’s impressive credentials, he would not be a fit for the Math Program.

I expressed my disbelief and I explained to Ebin that my son’s records at both Suffolk Community College and Fairleigh Dickinson University were almost perfect.

After our conversation, Ebin decided he would review my son’s application again. Upon doing so, he felt my son was not qualified and also lacked the appropriate prerequisites to succeed.

He mentioned that my son would be tortured if he was admitted because he would not be able to do the work. He recommended that my son take some additional math classes and then reapply.

I was disappointed but decided to call Fairleigh Dickinson University to speak to the professor who had sent a recommendation on my son’s behalf. When my son requested the recommendation from him, he said he knew Ebin and he would contact him on my son’s behalf. This also proved to be fruitless.

All my son wants to do is take graduate math classes at Stony Brook University. To take one class now and then possibly more in the fall would put him behind. Is he supposed to put his life on hold?

He has done everything asked of him. Where is the human element? Every once in a while somebody has to humanize the process. I certainly think my son is worthy of a chance to prove himself.

While his credentials might not be perfect they are certainly not so bad that he should be cast aside so readily. I would also add that the communication has not been what it should have been from the people I have spoken to at Stony Brook. R.W.

Dear R.W. You sent me a very long and detailed letter, which I had to condense and edit here. And your efforts on behalf of your son are extremely commendable. All children would be blessed to have an advocate like you on their side.

You also mentioned in your letter that paperwork has been lost. And you complained that Stony Brook was enrolling foreign students at the expense of US residents.

If you really believe there is a case for bias, you should hire a lawyer. And I understand your frustration with a higher-education system that values international diversity. If Stony Brook is being fair, it is only doing what every other major school is doing — trying to get a well-rounded student body.

I spoke with Stony Brook, but because of confidentiality rules there wasn’t much they could tell me.

But I did get an impression from the conversation. So let me give you my opinion.

I think your son needs to take more of the initiative. The school will value his persistence more than yours.

And paperwork always gets lost in an academic bureaucracy, although Stony Brook says this isn’t the case here.

Just keep pushing.

Last, back off the accusations of bias against US students. Unless you have proof, you are just going to make enemies of the admissions people your son needs as friends.

Best of luck, and I hope your son gets what he wants even if it is at one of the other great math programs in this state and country.